An Antiques Roadshow guest was left speechless when an item she picked up from a thrift store turned out to be worth a small fortune.
The popular PBS series returned to Minnesota, where it met with locals hoping their interesting items might be more valuable than they initially thought. One such guest presented expert James Ffrench with a beautiful textile that she had bought for a song. "It's a piece I found at a thrift store in Minnesota", she explained.
"I always look for linens and needlework because it interests me and I like to study and appreciate it." She added: "I have a lot of appreciation for women who have done needlework and this kind of stuck out to me." Initially, Ffrench thought it was another 20th Century Scandinavian-inspired textile, which he had seen plenty of before.
However, upon closer inspection, he realised there was "something more going on" in the detail, reports the Express. He noted: "There's an incredible subtlety to the colouration and the way this is woven and put together." He admitted: "So I was thinking: 'Gosh, you know, really this is better than most' and intrigued myself."
The real surprise came when he noticed that it was signed, a rarity for commercial pieces. "This is signed with the initials 'MMF' which stands for a woman named Marta Maas-Fjetterstrom who was probably the leading textile designer and producer in Sweden in the early 20th Century."
Maas-Fjetterstrom began her career as a painter, establishing a workshop in 1918 where she created textiles, curtain fabrics, rugs and carpets. "She was of such prominence that she designed and manufactured the rugs that are used for the Nobel Prize ceremonies in Stockholm, so she's really a designer of some note", Ffrench added.
"Typically in the market, we come across pieces of hers that are quite large. I've never seen a handwoven, flat-weave textile of this size coming from her and the quality backs up with the initials." When Ffrench asked if its owner had any idea of how much it was worth, she responded: "Absolutely not. I knew it was worth the dollar that I paid for it, just to have something to study, because it was so interesting."
He then concluded: "Right, because I would say, within the popularity of Marta Maas-Fjetterstrom things on the market today, because it's really coming on quite strong, I would place a retail value on a piece like this today of somewhere between $2,000 and $4,000."
The guest took a sharp intake of breath, eyes wide, before letting out a large groan, clearly at a loss for words. "Certainly worth a dollar investment", Ffrench joked, with the guest finally exclaiming: "Oh my goodness!"
Follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.